The idle ramblings of a devoted space and science fiction nut who also happens to write.

Monday, February 04, 2008

Iran tests rocket. West reacts.

Iran tested a rocket today, causing severe concerns among western allied countries. While Iran has said that this type of rocket will be used to launch their first home grown satellite Omid (Hope), The US government has sad that the same technology could be used to build long range ballistic missiles and Nuclear capable missiles.

While this is not the first time that Iran has tried to join the big 5 in the space race, it is the first time that they have built up the ballyhoo to go with the launch. Unfortunately for them, their claims of peaceful science surrounding the launch are being met with sever skepticism due to their involvement in the Iraq war. Also Iranian president Ahmadinejad's public displays of hatred for western countries is not helping their cause.

Back in the 1990's everyone knew Iran was working towards satellite launching capabilities as it was widely reported in the media and they had fairly open reporting on the launches. However with this new government, the country has once again gone back to the style that was prevalent during the tenure of Khomeini. I guess the idea of hating America is fashionable again so everyone is jumping on board as quick as they can.

Only time will tell if they are truly developing this technology for peaceful purposes, however, one would not want to see countries suddenly bombed with nukes just because some despot like Ahmanainejad decides he doesnt like ssomething that was said by a government of another country.